Bookkeeping for cleaning businesses in Canada
A cleaning business is mostly labour, supplies and getting between sites. The bookkeeping questions are who your cleaners are, employees or subcontractors, and when you cross $30,000 and have to start charging GST/HST.
Where the money goes in your books
What a cleaning business usually spends on, and the account in a Canadian chart of accounts it belongs in. The numbers are the account codes in Spark’s starting chart.
| What you pay for | Account |
|---|---|
| Cleaning chemicals, bags, cloths and paper | 5000 Purchases and materials |
| Subcontract cleaners | 5100 Subcontractors |
| Cleaners on payroll | 6800 Wages and benefitsThrough a payroll service. |
| Fuel and repairs for the van | 7200 Vehicle expenses |
| Floor machines and vacuums | 1500 Equipment and furnitureAssets, not expenses. |
| Liability insurance and bonding | 6200 Insurance |
| Scheduling and invoicing software | 6520 Software and subscriptions |
| Phones for the crew | 6960 Phone and internet |
How a chart of accounts works · The whole chart, as a template
The tax rules that are different for you
Each one is from the CRA, checked in October 2026. The link goes to the page it came from.
When you must register for GST/HST
You're a small supplier until your taxable sales pass $30,000 over four calendar quarters in a row. Pass $30,000 in a single quarter and you must register and charge GST/HST from the sale that took you over.
CRA: when to registerT4A slips both ways
A business that pays more than $500 in a year for a service reports it in box 048 of a T4A, and the CRA lists maintenance and cleaning services as an example. Your commercial clients may send you one, and the same guidance applies to subcontract cleaners you pay.
CRA: payments of fees for servicesRecords to keep
- Contracts with each client and their billing cycle.
- For subcontract cleaners: name, address, SIN or business number, and what you paid them.
- A kilometre log for each vehicle, if it's ever used personally.
- Supply receipts, by site if you bill supplies back to clients.
Common mistakes
- Not noticing you passed $30,000 until months later, then owing the GST/HST you never charged.
- Paying cleaners cash with no record.
- Treating cleaners as subcontractors without checking whether the CRA would see them as employees.
- Mixing household supplies with business supplies on one card.
How Spark Books handles it
Good fit
A good fit for an owner-run or subcontractor-based company. Employees need a payroll service.
What it does
- Sorts supplies, fuel and subcontractor payments, with the GST/HST split out once you're registered.
- Sends recurring client invoices and marks them paid when the deposit arrives.
- Keeps subcontractor payments in their own account, which gives you the totals for slips.
What it doesn’t
- No payroll for employed cleaners.
- It doesn't produce T4A slips.
- No live bank feed: you upload statements. Not available in Quebec yet.
Free, with no card. If you’d rather not do it yourself, a Spark bookkeeper keeps your books for $350 a month. How Spark Books works
Questions
- Does a cleaning business have to charge GST/HST?
- Once your taxable sales pass $30,000 over four calendar quarters in a row, or in a single quarter, yes. Below that you're a small supplier and can choose to register.
- Do I give my subcontract cleaners a T4A?
- The CRA's guidance is to report fees for services over $500 a year in box 048 of a T4A, with cleaning services as one of its examples.
- Are cleaning supplies cost of sales?
- If they're used up on clients' jobs, yes. Keeping them under cost of sales shows what each contract really costs you.
- Can I claim my van?
- The business share of its costs, backed by a kilometre log. The van itself is an asset.
Read next
- Do I need to register for GST/HST? The $30,000 small supplier ruleWhen a Canadian business must register for GST/HST: the $30,000 small supplier threshold, the single-quarter and four-quarter tests, and voluntary registration.
- Claiming vehicle expenses as a self-employed person in CanadaHow the CRA works out the business use of your vehicle, what you can claim, the logbook it expects, the simplified logbook, and the 2026 limits.
- Business vs personal expenses: what to do when they mixPersonal spending on the business card isn't an expense. How to book it — shareholder loan for a corporation, owner's draw for a sole proprietor.
- Financing for cleaning companiesWhat a lender reads in a cleaning file, if you need financing.
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